Criminal charges filed in case of ex-Naperville girl

SAN DIEGO -- A 30-year-old sex offender has been charged with murdering a 17-year-old San Diego County girl who vanished after heading off for a run in a park.

Prosecutors said John Albert Gardner III also faces a special allegation of rape or attempted rape, and a count of assault with intent to commit rape.

An attorney entered pleas of not guilty on behalf of Gardner during his brief court appearance Wednesday.

Teenager Chelsea King was last seen alive on Thursday, and her car was found that night at a semirural park in northeastern San Diego.

After a huge search, a body was found Tuesday in a grave by a lake. Authorities said they believe it was King, although positive identification is pending.

King was born in suburban San Diego but lived in the Chicago suburb of Naperville with her family for 10 years before the family returned to California in 2007.

King's family lived in Naperville for 10 years before moving to Poway, a suburb of San Diego.

King, who was born in the San Diego area, attended Waubonsie Valley High School in 2006-07.

Gardner was arrested Sunday night in connection with King's disappearance.

King's disappearance prompted an outpouring of support in San Diego and beyond, with hundreds of people joining search efforts and more than 76,000 becoming fans of a Facebook page. Her parents, Brent and Kelly King, appeared on national news broadcasts expressing the belief that she was still alive.

In Naperville's West Wind Estates subdivision, where the King family called home when they lived in the city, former neighbors were heartbroken Tuesday by the news that her body had probably been found.

Ann Rohr said she didn't realize the California tragedy affected her former neighbor Kelly King, the mother of Chelsea.

Chelsea, who was a freshman at Waubonsie Valley High School, began to show promise with the French horn in the school band, Rohr said.

Another neighbor, who described herself as very close to the King family, said: "I can't talk about it right now. All of us are very upset right now."

Gardner had been linked to an attack in December on a 22-year-old woman in the same park where King disappeared. Gardner allegedly tackled the woman and demanded money. She escaped after hitting Gardner in the face, San Diego police said.

Gardner served five years in connection with a 2000 attack on a 13-year-old girl, officials said.